Aims To examine a) the use of lipid-lowering drugs in North Jutland County in Denmark from 1991 to 1998 and b) the pattern of usage according to sex and age. Methods and results We used the Pharmaco-Epidemiological Prescription Database in the county to identify all reimbursed prescriptions for lipid-lowering therapy from 1991 to 1998. One-year incidence rates (IR) and prevalence (P) of the use of lipidlowering drugs were calculated. Both IR and P of patients in lipid-lowering therapy were stable until 1994, with the IR below 100 per 100 000 for both sexes. The IR then increased from 59.9 to 236.5 per 100 000 person-years in 1998 for women, and from 88.6 to 322.8 per 100 000 person-years for men. The utilization patterns were identical between the sexes. Thus, in both women and men the highest prevalence and incidence rates of lipid-lowering drug therapy were seen in the 60±69-year-olds. Furthermore, the marked increase in both prevalence and incidence of persons on lipid-lowering drug therapy between 1994 and 1998 was the result of an increased number of prescriptions in the 50±59, 60±69 and 70+ years olds, in both women and men. There was a remarkable 4±5 fold increase in the numbers of new patients who received statins during the same period. Conclusions The overall use of lipid-lowering drugs has increased markedly over the last few years in Northern Jutland, Denmark. The increase began following publication of the ®rst major trial documenting the bene®t of therapy with statins.

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